Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Moser Dynasty Continues

Victory in the prestigious 49° Trofeo Laigueglia went to 21 year old neo-pro Moreno Moser, the nephew of Francesco Moser. Moreno Moser recently joined Liquigas-Cannondale and participated in the December training camp.

Three kilometers on his own with his head down just thinking about pedaling harder and faster than the chase group to cross the line with his arms raised. This sums up the spectacular feat on Saturday, a feat that Francesco Moser himself never accomplished during his career having having finished 3rd in 1978, 1979 and 1980.

"If you’d asked me to bet on myself to win at the start, I wouldn’t have done it," said a beaming Moser. "To be honest, I wouldn’t have even done it two meters from the finish line: it was only when I raised my arms in the air that I realized I’d won. This is a dream come true: my first win, in Italy, and just how I wanted it to be. Racing as a finisseur is what I did best in the junior categories. I tried twice today: I went too early the first time, but the second was a winner, particular for the timing. The lead group was restless and I think lots of them were considering attacking. I didn’t calculate anything, I just went. I pushed as hard as I could and never looked back: it was right to have a go, either it would work or it wouldn’t. Which helped the most, legs or courage? I’d say legs, you never win without those. I’d add teammates to that as well: I couldn’t have done it without their work and support."

Last 10 minutes of the race:

The Moser family, from Trentino, has a long history of cycling success. In 1973, brothers Diego (Moreno's father), Aldo, Enzo and Francesco were all on the Filotex professional team.

Aldo Moser raced in 16 Giro d'Italia, highest placed as 5th in 1956 and wearing the pink jersey for two days. He was 3rd in the Tour di Suisse in 1962. He won the Grand Prix des Nations in 1959 in the TT, and won several races of that level.

Enzo Moser wore the pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia for two days in 1964.

Francesco Moser won the Giro d'Italia in 1984, won Paris-Roubaix three consecutive times (1978-1980), won the world road racing championship in San Cristobal, Venezuela in 1977, and in 1984, in Mexico City, Moser broke the famed 1972 hour record of Eddy Merckx.

Moreno, Francesco, Diego, Aldo Moser:

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It's the legs and lungs that win bike races, no matter what the bike makers would like us to believe. And I wouldn't bet a whole lot of dough on that bike actually being a C-dale (however you define bikes made in Chinese factories alongside others, with different paint jobs and stickers often being the only difference) anyway. Who's to say it's not a custom-built-in-Italy carbon frame painted to match the team-issue bikes? Maybe by Sarto? Here's a link http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/10/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/lennard-zinn-faq-last-batch-%E2%80%94-the-coolest-things-in-padova_196297